Category: Youth Ministry

I recently found an extensive review of two books that are worth knowing about. They are “The Juvenilization of American Christianity” and “From Here to Maturity” both by Thomas Bergler.  Bergler teaches at a Christian college in Indiana and has done extensive study of the history of movements in youth ministry that have affected the…

My friend Dr Rob Rienow has posted a great question for college freshman on his blog. College freshmen are 8 weeks into their new adventure. Most are living away from home for the first time. You may be a college student reading this post, or perhaps you are a parent of one of those freshmen.…

I recently had the opportunity to contribute to The Rooted Blog.  Here is a snippet of the article.  It was also picked up by The Gospel Coalition over the weekend. “God has no grandkids,” my mentor used to say.  What he meant was simply that no one enters the kingdom merely because their parents were…

Recently a friend of mine shared his story of how his teenage son wanted an iPhone, so they came up with an agreement on the terms and conditions of having the phone.  It’s a beautiful contract through which parents have conveyed their love to their son. He shared the agreement with me and gave me…

Continued from Part One by Dr. Rob Rienow of Visionary Family Ministries Mission #2: Welcome and integrate children into the full life of the church, beginning with the weekly worship service. In the Scriptures we find a second method that God has prescribed for the discipleship of children. In both the Old and New Testaments…

By Dr. Rob RienowVisionary Family Ministries We have a new group of people in the church today. They have always been with us, but now we have a name for them – “tweens.” These young people are somewhere between fourth and seventh grade, and often find themselves awkwardly caught between the world of childhood and…

The following is a guest post from Ken Moser. http://www.effectiveyouthministry.com/ http://kmoserblog.wordpress.com/ It seems that the phrase “Bible study group” is a common part of ministry. Many youth ministries have Bible study groups. It is, hopefully, a time to get into the word of God.  However, do they really get into the word? I know of…

The wsj.com had a fascinating short article recently about a study that was published online in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.  Having no idea what orthopsychiatry was, I discovered it is “the branch of psychiatry concerned with the study and prevention of mental or behavioral disorders, with emphasis on child development and family life.”. Now…

My wife is a teacher.  Specifically, she teaches Physical Education which for the most part means coaching sports as well. So, for years she was a coach of volleyball, Cross Country, and Track. When we compare our fields and the expectations that go with them, we discover some serious differences. First, Youth Ministers are expected…

I had the opportunity to hear my friend and former boss preach a great sermon recently. The Temple of the Spirit (8/9/15) from ChristChurch Presbyterian on Vimeo.